Space maintainers: types, indications; space regainers
Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry · Dental (BDS)
Study notes
A 5-year-old loses a primary molar to caries. Why place a band-and-loop? Without it, the permanent first molar drifts forward, stealing the premolar's eruption space - future crowding requiring orthodontics. Students learn space as treatment: the maintainer (cheap, passive) prevents the malocclusion that braces (expensive, active) would later fix - pediatric prevention in wire and band.
Related topics
- Growth and development: dental age, chronology of dentitions
- Child psychology and behavior management techniques
- Preventive dentistry: diet counseling, oral hygiene instruction
- Fluorides: systemic, topical, fluoride varnish, fluorosis
- Pit and fissure sealants, preventive resin restorations
- Dental caries in children: ECC, rampant caries management